L'Aventurier
Fragonard (2016)

I bought this perfume on a whim
As evening light was growing dim
Content upon our dinner fine
We sniffed perfume instead of wine

A quaint French store in Irish town
'Mong Francophiles, of some renown
I saw in window Fragonard
The lovely wife did not drag hard

She found her things, I said "Yes, dear!"
So let me make that plainly clear
I shan't go shopping in a hearse
My perfume cart before her purse

But while she kept her husband free
As store folk showered her with tea
And crystal vases to be paid
My post-perfumey plans were laid

I sniffed the men's and women's scents
The bleu for dudes and rouge for gents
The finely focused fleurs for femmes
Imaginary scents of gems

But in the end, adventure won
This scent Fernández Jordi done
On paper first, and then on skin
The wifely nose said "Let it win!"

And to my nose, 'twas much the same
As honest revelation came
Though bottles cuter graced its kin
They could not match with scent therein

Outdoorsy, yes, but still refined
A bit of Polo brought to mind
The pyramid, while being true
Leaves out some cypress, pine and yew

But notes are not the perfume's draw
Their balance leaves me in some awe
Some men's melange of old and new
Some cauldron craft, some wizard's brew

Unburdened by what's been before
Yet hallowing the goods of yore
Where Mod Reserve was Polo Mild
This Fragonard's more Euro-styled

A old take on an new design
And thus I had to make it mine
Though bottle cheap, like niche room spray
'Twas what's inside, that made my day

So out we walked, a happy pair
Our Fragonard did fill the air
And this, my best advice to you
To thine own nose, be foremost true